California
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July 27, 2023
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Students in the pond throw the volleyball

 

A full day of intellectual rigor behind them, students on the California High School Summer Program turned their attention to an afternoon bursting with opportunities for athletic competition and theological understanding. And it all began on the academic quadrangle with the annual Summer Program Quad Run!

A young but beloved TAC-California tradition, the Quad Run is inspired by a classic scene from Chariots of Fire, in which Harold Abrahams successfully completes Cambridge University’s Trinity Great Court Run before the King’s Gate Clock strikes 12. On Wednesday afternoon, some 50 Summer Programmers staged their own version of the event: The athletes sprinted, in pairs, a clockwise course around the academic quadrangle, beginning and ending by St. Bernardine of Siena Library.

Most pairs battled neck and neck for supremacy on the straightaways, making critical bursts of speed at each turn, one runner or the other gaining a lead to be exploited during the next straightaway. The crowd roared at each race, reaching new heights of fervor the closer the races got.

Photos: Women’s Quad Run
  • Two spring down the arcade
  • A student runs down the arcade
  • Two run down the arcade
  • Onlookers on the Chapel steps
  • Three cheer the oncomers
  • A student runs
  • Two run
  • Two run while a third cheers them on
  • Two run
  • A student runs
  • Two run past the corner fountain
  • Three pose against the backdrop of the Chapel

For the women, Louise G. took third place (45.8 seconds); Keilah T., second (42.98), and Marie M., first (40.63), beating the record set by Hope (Ascough ’22) Tittmann years ago! For the men, Joe W. took third (37.88); Neko B., second (36.42); and Caleb B., first (36.35), likewise besting the previous men’s record, set by Austin Tewalt (’24).

Photos: Men’s Quad Run
  • Two sprint
  • Students cheer on the Chapel steps
  • Three sprinting
  • Two sprint while one in front of the fountain times them
  • Another view of the same
  • Two sprint
  • Two sprint
  • Another view of the same
  • Two sprint
  • Two sprint
  • Two sprint
  • Two sprint past the Guadalupe fountain
  • Another two do the same
  • Two sprint past the stairway
  • One runs past the stairs
  • A student finishes the race
  • A student runs past the finish line
  • Two about to finish
  • Three pose afront the Chapel

In need of a cool-down, the group then moved on to the lower campus, where, by the first pond, lay a pile of watermelons and cans of Crisco. It was time for Watermelon Water Polo! Teams lathered up in the slippery stuff, took their places on either side of pond, and rushed on in a sudden crash at the game’s commencement, battling over the slathered watermelon.

Photos: Women’s Watermelon Water Polo
  • Several in the pond
  • Several cheer
  • General chaos around the barely-visible watermelon
  • A student in the pond laughs as the struggle takes place
  • Many cheer in the pond
  • Several look on
  • Several struggle for the watermelon
  • Four look on
  • One team
  • Many compete for the watermelone
  • Many cheer on one side
  • Many sit on the edge of the pond

The rules were simple: Get the watermelon, don’t break it, bring it across the pond to the opponent’s goal. Teams went best two-out-of-three, crashing back and forth in a frenzy. Splashing filled the air with white water, each game ending as suddenly as it begun, one team or the other taking the round’s point. Worn out from the brutal though friendly competition, everyone returned to the upper campus to wash up then enjoy dinner.

Photos: Men’s Watermelon Water Polo
  • Two hold up a third who gives a thumbs-up
  • Two compete for the watermelon
  • Several cheer
  • Much splashing as the watermelon is claimed
  • A team gets ready
  • Several struggle for the watermelon
  • Students hold up melon fragments
  • Several wrestle in the middle of the pond
  • Several compete for the watermelon
  • Another view of the same
  • Students cheer

Replenished by turkey in St. Joseph Common, it was time for Study Hall …

Photos: Study Hall
  • Several study at the table
  • Another view of the same
  • A student at the board
  • Two study at the table
  • Two work on a prop together at the board
  • A student does a prop at the board
  • Two at the table
  • Two smile for the camera in the classroom building hallway
  • Two at the board look over at the camera
  • One studies at the table
  • Two at the table
  • One practices at the board

… where students continued their examination of Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy and Euclid’s propositions 11, 13, and 15 from Book I of the Elements. The nightly Rosary followed, after which students made their way to St. Gladys Plaza for “Chaplain on Tap” with Fr. Sebastian and root-beer floats.

Fr. Sebastian took care to answer thoroughly as many of the students’ anonymously submitted questions as possible. He first treated marriage — the traditional and modern definitions, their opposition, why Catholic marriage is natural, beautiful, and worthy of defense. Next came the question of Hell and problems of evil — is Hell just? How could God’s existence, infinite in goodness, logically admit of evil? Then onto the differences between Protestantism and Catholicism, doing away with common misconceptions, shedding light on the philosophical division between the two positions, and discussing his own Lutheran background.

 

Fr. Walshe addresses the students

 

In every answer, the Norbertine touched on Aristotelian logic, the importance of distinctions, and Scripture. He took special care to note the importance of definitions: “Definitions are the seeds of everything you know,” he said. Knowing how to define properly protects one well against fallacy and poor argumentation. The priest ended the Q&A with thanks to the students for their questions, inviting further conversation.

 

Another view of the same

 

Back in the residence halls, students found several huge pizzas, on which they feasted before retiring. Today’s classes should prove exciting, especially as students wrap up Boethius. Read all about it this afternoon here on the Summer Program Blog!